Percy Chantry
The one room that kept its roof, a tiny 15th-century chapel with a vault crowded with carved saints, the finest thing on site; check it is open during the current maintenance works.
Three kings were buried on this rock at the mouth of the Tyne, the last of them Malcolm III of Scotland in 1093, and two Northumbrian kings before him. Then the Vikings sacked the first monastery in 875, it was rebuilt, then fortified, then turned into a gun emplacement through two world wars. Few places in Britain fold thirteen centuries into a patch of grass you can cross in ten minutes; this is one of them. What you actually walk into: a fortified 14th-century gatehouse reached over a stone causeway, then a wide lawn dominated by the surviving walls of the priory church, best of all the soaring east end whose tall lancet windows now frame nothing but the North Sea. The tiny 15th-century Percy Chantry is the one room that kept its roof, with a vaulted ceiling crowded with carved saints that is astonishing for a space this small, but it opens off the east end that is currently closed for maintenance, so ask at the gate whether it is open on the day. Out on the tip of the headland are the gun batteries and underground magazines from both world wars, with a small exhibition on the soldiers who lived here, which is the part children tend to prefer to the old stones. The honest word: this is a ruin, and the pleasure is the setting more than the buildings. The wind never stops, and the clifftop view over King Edward's Bay and Longsands beach would justify the trip alone. One important caveat: the Choir, Chapel and Presbytery of the church (the east end) are currently closed for essential maintenance, and English Heritage is compensating with a 30 percent discount applied automatically when you book. The walk-up adult price is around £10 without donation (£9 on off-peak weekdays, a little more on peak days), booking on the website by midnight the day before saves 15 percent, and arriving by Metro, bus or bike earns 20 percent off a walk-up ticket. Tarmac and concrete paths make most of the site pushchair-friendly, though there are steps down into the gun battery and about 70 metres of cobbles at the gatehouse that need a little patience. Getting here from Newcastle is simple: the Tyne and Wear Metro (yellow line) from Monument to Tynemouth station takes about 25 minutes, then it is a ten-minute walk along Front Street to the gate, with a short climb up the causeway at the end. Driving takes roughly half an hour on the A1058 Coast Road, with pay-and-display parking at Spanish Battery and along the seafront. In summer the site opens daily 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:15); from November to mid-March it is weekends only, 10:00 to 16:00, closed 24 to 26 December, and the north wind in those months shortens any visit regardless. Combine it with the weekend flea market inside Tynemouth Metro station and a walk on the beach for a complete half day.
The one room that kept its roof, a tiny 15th-century chapel with a vault crowded with carved saints, the finest thing on site; check it is open during the current maintenance works.
Thirteenth-century walls with towering lancet windows that now frame nothing but the North Sea, seen from the lawn while the works last.
Underground magazines and a small exhibition on garrison life through two world wars, the part children like best.
Pier Road, Tynemouth NE30 4BZ
Yes if you pair it with the beach and the station market; the priory alone holds children for about an hour, the gun batteries are the draw for them and the wide lawn suits running around, but the wind is relentless so bring jackets even in August.
A little: you lose access to the choir and presbytery, and possibly the Percy Chantry which opens off the closed end, but the east end walls seen from outside, the batteries and the view are all open, and the 30 percent discount makes the price very fair.